Remembering Rules Official John Paramor and Some of His Famous Decisions

The European Tour chief referee's career spanned from Seve to Tiger.

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The name might not be that familiar to American golf fans, but John Paramor was a huge figure in the game, not simply due to his size. The longtime rules official who worked for the now-DP World Tour for more than 40 years passed away on Friday after suffering with cancer. He was just 67 and had only retired in 2020.

John Paramor officiated all over the world and had a number of famous rulings involving the game's best players :: Eoin Clarke/Golffile

Paramor became the European Tour’s chief referee in 1989, a position he held until his retirement. In his role, he officiated all over the world, including some high-level rules situations including one involving the late Seve Ballesteros on the final hole of the 1984 Volvo Masters at Valderama in Spain.

"That is the ruling everyone remembers," Paramor said years later. "Seve had hit his ball under the tree, into an area that may or may not have been caused by a burrowing animal. He felt the hole had been made by an animal. One, that was questionable. And two, I couldn’t find any evidence to suggest what he was claiming. He had to prove his case. Anyway, there was a small hole within the big hole. When I went to stick my finger in the small hole to see what was down there, Seve put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘be careful, it might bite.’

“That was inspired, of course. I almost started to chuckle. He only said that so I would hear it. And that was Seve all over. He was only trying to get what he felt he was due. And he was trying to sway me. But he didn’t, of course. He could be intimidating, but I had to put that to the back of my mind."

At the 2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, Tiger Woods criticized Paramor for giving him and Padraig Harrington a slow-play warning as they battled in the final group. The warning seemed to unnerve Harrington, who made a mistake late in the round that led to Woods’ victory. Woods, however, felt it was wrong given the circumstances, especially since nobody was behind them and the broadcast was scheduled to end on time.

Still, Woods spoke highly of Paramor.

"One of the all-time best rules officials," he said after learning of Paramor's death. "John was around when I first turned pro and had been a staple obviously on the European Tour and all the World Golf Championships, when he came over here and was a rules official. Just a great guy. I'm a little bit taken aback by that."

Among Paramor’s more controversial rulings came at Augusta National in 2013 when he gave a one-stroke penalty for slow play to amateur Tianlang Guan, who was only 14 and had qualified by winning the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship. Given the lack of slow-play penalties doled out in golf, Paramor's ruling was criticized.

"That was a tough one," Paramor told Golf Digest a few years later. "I tried very hard to tell the lad what was going to happen if he did not speed up. But he backed me into a corner. I gave him so many chances. But in the end, I had no choice."

Perhaps one of the more remarkable rulings Paramor was involved in came with Jordan Spieth at the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale during the final round. Although several rules officials were involved, Paramor was there as Spieth considered his options for some 20 minutes before he finally took a drop on the driving range that led to a remarkable bogey that helped him win the Claret Jug.